Did you know that under certain circumstances, heart attacks and strokes that occur within 24 hours of a strenuous duty related event may qualify for Federal benefits. We know of departments that did not consider this, and this benefit was not available to the family of the deceased.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION AS TO EVEN THE MOST REMOTE POSSIBILITY SOMEONE MAY QUALIFY, PLEASE CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY.

The Public Safety Officer Support Act of 2022 (SOSA) was signed into law in August 2022 and may afford benefits to public safety officers who died or became disabled due to actions taken to take their own life. Here is a link to review more about the SOSA Law. This new law is back-dated to include actions taken on or after January 1, 2019.

There is a three-year statute of limitation, from the date of death or disability, to file for the claim. Since this is a very new law, the Department of Justice is granting an extension to the filing deadline. We do not know how long this extension will be granted. Timing is imperative to insure we do not miss a filing deadline for a possible claim. We know not all families of victims of suicide will qualify for the benefit, yet we want to ensure every case is reviewed for potential eligibility.

This law is very new, and all nuances regarding filing requirements are not yet known. We do know the suicidal act must be related to one of the outlined “events” in the law.

• Mass Casualty event
  • Incident that exceeds normal resources for emergency response that is available in the area 
  • Incident that results in surge of injured individuals 
• Mass Fatality event
  • Fatalities of at least three individuals at one or more locations close to one another with a common cause 
• Mass Shooting
  • Fatalities of at least three individuals as the result of a firearm within a single event at one or more locations close to one another 
• Traumatic event
  • Homicide, suicide or violent or gruesome death of another individual 
  • Harrowing circumstance posing significant danger or threat of life or serious bodily harm to the public safety officer 
  • Act of criminal sexual violence committed against an individual 

Parameters outlined in the law must be present, in order for the family to potentially be eligible for benefits. Not all public safety officer suicides and disabilities due to suicide attempt will qualify.

If you know of a public safety officer who died by suicide or who became disabled due to a suicide attempt, we would like to gather information to see if the family may qualify for the Federal Public Safety Officer Benefit. Please complete the following form, and we will follow up with you.

 https://golamacinc.formstack.com/forms/public_safety_officer_suicides

When a line of duty death occurs, and on request of the agency sustaining the loss, the team would be deployed immediately. The team serves in a behind the scene capacity and offers suggestions based on what the department needs are, as well as, the needs of the firefighter family. Team members have a timeline of things that need to be done within hours of the tragedy to insure the ability to maximize benefits and assist the agency with some of the necessary legalities that occur with a line of duty death. The team stays in place at the agency, sometimes for several days, usually until the funeral services are completed.
The duties of the team do not end there, they provide information to the department on an as needed basis to assist the family and department beyond the funeral services.

The team will respond with many of the necessary items to facilitate a firefighters funeral service. Departments will not be burdened to acquire these items, as they will be provided for the departments use. A funeral service guide has been established to assist the family and department in choosing options to fit the services they desire. Funeral ceremony protocols are provided for use if desired as well. Our team utilizes the incident command system and has pre determined duties assigned to the sector officers. Once again, our team members serve in a behind the scene capacity, leaving the members of the stricken department as the "front" people for the services.

Another job of our team is to be versed on available benefits available to the fallen firefighters family. These MAY include free funeral services through the Dignity Memorial Network, local organizations that provide aid to the family as well as scholarship assistance to any children of the deceased. We can assist with paperwork to qualify the deceased for placement on the State of Missouri Memorial Wall, the National Memorial Monument, the IAFF Memorial Wall and some local memorial sites as well.

These are just some of the items we can provide to you. All of our services are provided to you AT NO COST!

Our team can also assist you with non LODD services as well. The equipment we have will be made available for your use on a first come first serve basis.